The Holy of Holies (icon of the Most Holy Saviour)

WITL ^ | January 4, 2006 | Rocco Palmo

[NYer]

The other day, in detailing the resurrected rite of the Resurrexit, which will return for papal Easter, I wrote about the "Acheiropita icon of the Most Holy Saviour, formerly kept in the Sanctum Sanctorum at the Oratory of Saint Laurence near the Lateran Basilica."

As you can see from the above photo -- taken by one of our readers on a recent trip to Rome -- it's still there. I gladly eat crow on that one.

But still, four days after the release of said Holy Week schedule, where is the only place one can find a detailed description of this traditional (i.e. pre-Trent) Paschal ritual which Benedict XVI has decided to bring back to mark his first Easter as Pope, on top of all the other usual (exclusive) goodies?

Hint: You're reading it right now.

[NYer]

For the Mass of the Day on Easter Sunday, the traditional Resurrexit rite was restored and renamed Peter, Witness of the Resurrection. At the beginning of the Mass two deacons open the doors of the venerable icon of Christ the Saviour known as the Achiropita (not made by human hands), after which one of the deacons proclaims in song the news of the Lord’s Resurrection: first to the assembly with the chant Surrexit Dominus de sepulcro, qui pro nobis pependit in ligno, and then to the Holy Father with the words Surrexit Dominus vere et apparuit Simoni. This ancient rite of the Pope’s witness before the icon of the Saviour, suitably enhanced and adapted in keeping with the spirit of the conciliar liturgical reform, became after the year 2000 one of the rites proper to the papal liturgy. 
OFFICE OF THE LITURGICAL CELEBRATIONS OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF

[Carolina]

Sancta Sanctorum in the church of Salvatore della Scala Santa across the square from St. John Lateran, Rome.

[NYer]

Thank you!! The icon is referred to as "not painted by human hands". Can't seem to find anything more specific on it.

[NYer]

Think you will enjoy this.

[Carolina]

From the Vatican online archives

The icon, probably brought to Rome from the East, was already mentioned in the Liber Pontificalis under the entry for Pope Stephen III (752-757). A full representation of the enthroned Saviour, it was painted on cloth applied to a wooden tablet measuring approximately 1.52 m. by 70 cm. The icon has been frequently restored, most recently in 1995-1996. The only part presently visible is the Face of the Lord painted on a silken cloth superimposed upon the original. The rest of the icon is covered by a sheet of silver.

[NYer]

Thank you again for the additional information. EWTN will more than likely carry this event .... LIVE! .... and I'll be watching.

[redhead]

All I see is the red X in the box. Can you try the link again?